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I really wish I'd been able to see Monday's Doha Debate. The topic was an interesting and provocative one: "This house believes that Muslims are failing to combat extremism."
The speaker lineup was a good one, too. Speaking for the motion were Ed Husain, a Bengali Brit who spent five years in Islamist organizations before rejecting fundamentalism, and Arsalan Iftikhar, former legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations who now works for Islamica Magazine. Speaking against the motion were Daisy Khan of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, and Moez Masoud, the young Egyptian televangelist whose Stairway to Paradise series I so enjoyed a couple of Ramadans ago.
The debate will be aired on BBC World on Saturday at 08:10, 14:10 and 20:10 GMT, and Sunday 00:10, 08:10 and 20:10 GMT.
I actually sat next to Arsalan Iftikhar on my flight back to Doha Sunday evening. I don't normally talk to people on planes, but Mr. Iftikhar turned to me with a grin after expressing surprise and delight at the abundance of food and said, "Sorry... I'm a human rights lawyer -- we don't often get to fly business class." We ended up talking for a long time about the Doha debate topic and about moderate Islam -- a term he demurred from using, saying it's not how Muslims would self-identify to other Muslims. The conversation made me think about what I mean when I say "moderate Muslim": does it really just mean "someone who doesn't make me feel uncomfortable" or "someone who isn't too serious about religion"? Or does it really denote something useful and positive?
Living in Doha often exposes me to aspects of Islam that are not very appealing to me: rigid, puritanical forms of Islam that seem more concerned with the evils of nail polish than the evils of abusing housemaids. It was tremendously heartwarming to have a long conversation with someone who decried the Muslim world's misguided response to the Mohammed cartoon controversy, and then quietly sauntered off to pray.
The speaker lineup was a good one, too. Speaking for the motion were Ed Husain, a Bengali Brit who spent five years in Islamist organizations before rejecting fundamentalism, and Arsalan Iftikhar, former legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations who now works for Islamica Magazine. Speaking against the motion were Daisy Khan of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, and Moez Masoud, the young Egyptian televangelist whose Stairway to Paradise series I so enjoyed a couple of Ramadans ago.
The debate will be aired on BBC World on Saturday at 08:10, 14:10 and 20:10 GMT, and Sunday 00:10, 08:10 and 20:10 GMT.
I actually sat next to Arsalan Iftikhar on my flight back to Doha Sunday evening. I don't normally talk to people on planes, but Mr. Iftikhar turned to me with a grin after expressing surprise and delight at the abundance of food and said, "Sorry... I'm a human rights lawyer -- we don't often get to fly business class." We ended up talking for a long time about the Doha debate topic and about moderate Islam -- a term he demurred from using, saying it's not how Muslims would self-identify to other Muslims. The conversation made me think about what I mean when I say "moderate Muslim": does it really just mean "someone who doesn't make me feel uncomfortable" or "someone who isn't too serious about religion"? Or does it really denote something useful and positive?
Living in Doha often exposes me to aspects of Islam that are not very appealing to me: rigid, puritanical forms of Islam that seem more concerned with the evils of nail polish than the evils of abusing housemaids. It was tremendously heartwarming to have a long conversation with someone who decried the Muslim world's misguided response to the Mohammed cartoon controversy, and then quietly sauntered off to pray.
